


The Bet

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 20:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6581599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After laying her head on the desk and letting out a primal scream she was sure was heard as far away as Delaware, CJ Cregg was back again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bet

Leo walked into CJ’s office on Thursday morning. She just finished the 10am briefing and was scouring her desk for the Africa AIDS report.

"Hey Carol, where is my AIDS report? Where are the numbers from the Fed?"

"Ten minutes." Carol said. "Hey Leo."

"Good morning."

CJ looked at him as she fed Gail.

"Hey Leopold, what’s up?"

"I have tickets for the early Wizards game tonight and to a club/restaurant opening."

"Wizards, what do they play?" CJ asked.

"Basketball." Leo replied.

"Michael Jordan, right? That sounds fun."

"I was wondering if you would join me."

CJ looked at him.

"Really?" she asked.

"I usually don’t do these things but I thought, why not? We’ve all been stressed lately and I thought going out might help."

"With me?"

"I know you so I won't be uncomfortable. I know I won't be getting slapped at the end of the night."

CJ smiled.

"Don’t bet on it pal." She said.

Leo smiled at her.

"I just don’t date much; I would like to be with someone I won't have to bullshit for."

"Yeah. OK, it sounds like fun. I haven’t been to a basketball game since high school. Are they good seats?"

"Skybox." Leo replied.

"Ooh, high class. Did you say a club opening?"

"Its called Monticello...you know for people your age. 70s and 80s music and a martini bar."

"Will you dance?" CJ asked.

"I am not going to make any guarantees."

He stopped talking when Carol came into the room. She put the briefing books on CJ’s desk.

"AIDS, the Fed, Malaysia, NASA projections, and Josh wants you to read up on the NEA."

"Why?"

"He said to come and see him."

"Yeah. Thanks Carol."

The coffee she held to her lips was luke warm.

"I’m in Leo. Do you know how long it’s been since I put on real clothes?"

"I can guess. The game starts at 6:30 so we can leave here at quarter of...baring national crisis."

CJ crossed her fingers.

"OK, see you later."

"Yeah. Thanks CJ."

"No, thank you."

He left and CJ sat in her chair. Was this a date; did Leo just ask her out? She pushed those thoughts out of her head as she thought about what she was going to wear. Her closet was full of clothes yearning to see the light of day...the Press Secretary rarely had reason to be casual. OK, coffee now, outfit later.

***

Josh catcalled down the hall. CJ turned around and curtsied. It was 5:30; she was ready for a night of fun.

"Where are you going tonight?" Josh asked. "Damn, you look fantastic."

CJ smiled.

"The Wizards game, and a club opening."

"A date? Who is the lucky guy?"

"It is not a date...he is a friend. I may regret asking this, but do I look OK?"

Josh examined her. Dark blue jeans, high heel boots, and a spaghetti strap white tank top that barely touched the top of her jeans. The jeans were hip huggers and CJ wore the hell out of them.

"You look...damn CJ, you can really dress down. Hey Sam, tell CJ how hot she looks."

Sam walked over to them. He looked CJ up and down.

"You look beautiful." Sam said. "I forget sometimes that you can really dress down. Where are you off to?"

"She’s got a date." Josh said.

Sam looked at her with wide eyes.

"It is not a date." She repeated. "See you guys tomorrow."

She walked past Toby’s office, poked her head in, and said goodnight. He only had a second to look up before she was gone. Did she look as fantastic as he imagined...he did not have enough time to be sure?

"You look nice." Leo said, holding the door to his Lincoln for her.

"Nice Leo, I already got a hot, fantastic, and beautiful." CJ climbed into the car.

"Hmm. Then I’ll just have to take it up a notch."

"Yeah."

***

It rained on Friday morning and CJ was an hour late. She looked tired when she trudged in with her briefcase and extra large coffee. Still, there was a twinkle in her eye that could not be hidden or denied.

"Good morning Carol. Sorry, I’m late but there are protestors or something blocking everything in sight from about 18th and Potomac to 16th and Ellipse. See if you can find out what that is about."

"Yeah. They’re in with the President; they’re waiting for you."

"Shit." CJ muttered.

She threw her raincoat on the rack, grabbed her coffee, and rushed to the Oval Office. Walking fast was almost impossible...CJ had not danced in a decade like she danced last night. The First Lady was being serious when she compared Leo to Fred Astaire. Charlie told her it was OK and she walked in.

"Good morning Mr. President. Sorry I’m late, but apparently protestors or something have hijacked our streets again this morning."

"Sit CJ." The President said. "We were waiting for you before starting."

"Oh." CJ sat between Josh and Toby. "I hope I didn’t hold you up."

"Not at all. Did anyone get a chance to read the Entertainment section of the Post this morning?" Jed Bartlet asked.

They all shook their heads.

"Who has time for that?" Toby muttered.

"I get all my entertainment on CNN." Sam said.

"What’s going on sir?" Leo asked.

"Well, apparently senior staff went out and had a good time last night."

CJ looked up. The boys were looking at each other...they had no idea what the President was talking about. When we held up the paper, and they all saw the pictures, CJ gasped.

"Whoa!" Josh said.

"I can explain that sir." CJ said.

Suddenly the boys were looking at her. She stood, feeling stuck in a difficult situation. The first picture showed CJ sitting in Leo’s lap in the skybox at the Wizards game. The second was them getting down at Monticello.

"I would like to hear it." Toby said.

"We do not comment on our personal lives." Leo said.

"Something was crawling up my chair and it scared me. I actually jumped in Leo’s lap. I stayed because it was comfortable. We danced at the club; that is what all people do at a club. I had a blast."

"Were the paparazzi following us?" Leo asked.

"Obviously." Sam answered.

The President smiled and then laughed. The senior staff looked at him.

"Well Leo, you did it." He said.

"Sir?" Leo asked.

"As usual, you have to win the bet times two. I didn’t need the photo evidence."

"Excuse me sir?" CJ asked.

"What’s going on?" Sam asked.

"Sir, we do not have to..."

"Leo needed to get out." The President said as if Leo had not spoken. "He was not listening to me so I went for the jugular. I bet him he could not go out for one night and just unwind; have fun. Looks like I lost."

CJ looked mortified. She looked at the President and then back to Leo.

"A bet." She said quietly. "Last night was a bet."

"CJ, no, only going out was a bet. You and I were not a bet." Leo replied.

"Uh oh." Josh muttered. "He is in trouble."

"How much extra do you get for the pictures Leo? How could you do this?"

"CJ, I think we need to talk about this in private."

"Was it all a bet, everything? Game, set, match. Did you have to bring evidence?"

"Please stop." Toby said. "C’mon CJ, you need to cool off."

"CJ, I didn’t mean..."

Both the President and Sam gasped when she slapped him. That woman hit hard.

"Go to hell Leo McGarry!" she exclaimed. "Thank you Mr. President."

She stalked out of the room, nearly barreling down Charlie, who was on his way in. The men just looked at each other.

"She’s angry." The President mumbled.

"You think sir." Toby tried to control his tone. He looked at Leo, who was still rubbing his cheek.

"This meeting is over." Leo said absently. He walked back into his office.

***

Carol rushed to CJ’s office when she heard the crash.

"CJ, are you alright?" she asked.

"I think I need a new laptop." CJ muttered.

Carol looked at it, hanging out of the wall.

"OK, it looks like you need a new wall too. Do you want to talk?"

"No!"

"Yeah, OK. I’ll um, see if they can retrieve your hard drive out of this one."

Carol pulled the laptop out of the wall.

"No visitors!" CJ shouted as Carol closed the door.

A bet. How could she have been so stupid? The President had such a gratified look on his face too...making an ass of CJ had become a national pastime. If people just left her alone she was sure she could do that herself. How could Leo be a party to this? Were all the things that happened last night a lie? They had a great time at the game and the club. She thought she really got him to come out of his shell. They danced, and they laughed; he told her that her height was sexy. The best part about it was that CJ felt he was being truthful...at least she knew they weren’t the ramblings of a drunken man.

The way he kissed her on her steps; that couldn’t be fake. The way they barely made it to her apartment before she was topless...was that even real? What he told her, how beautiful she was, how much he wanted her, how he could barely control himself. CJ laughed then, telling him that losing control was OK with her. They made love three times and though he was gone when CJ woke up, he left the most beautiful note. It was all a lie, a bet with the President. Her phone rang and she ignored it. When it kept going after six rings, she finally answered.

"CJ Cregg."

"CJ, I..."

"Not now Toby, please."

She hung up. OK, she had to shake it off. The business of running the country had to be taken care of. Leo McGarry was a motherfucker, slapping him felt good though hardly enough, and now she had to move on. After laying her head on the desk and letting out a primal scream she was sure was heard in Delaware, CJ Cregg was back again. Thank God it was Friday because she would make damn sure that she had a good weekend.

***

By 4:00 it seemed as if the morning never happened. Josh, Sam, and Toby didn’t say a thing. CJ avoided the President and Leo and they weren’t looking for her either. That is why CJ was shocked to find Leo sitting in her office when she came back from her pow-wow with Toby.

"Get the hell out!" she said in a calm voice.

"I need to talk to you." He replied.

"I got the jest of it this morning, thanks. You won the bet Leo...I won't ask you to share the prize."

"It was not like that, and I think you know that."

"I don’t know that. I know what I heard."

"CJ, the President bet me that I would not go out and have a good time. That was all." Leo stood up.

He walked toward her and CJ backed up.

"He gave me the tickets and that was it. I asked you because I knew we would have a good time together. We had a good time, right?"

"Don’t bullshit me. I could care less about the date itself; I don’t even mind the pictures. It is what happened after that concerns me."

"CJ..."

"Did the President bet you that I would give out on the first date?"

"You know that was never discussed. That was us, CJ."

"I don’t believe you, and I don’t want to talk to you anymore."

"We’ve known each other a long time." Leo said. "I respect you and like you too much to ever hurt you like that. It troubles me that you don’t know that."

"How dare you make me feel bad for being pissed?"

"Just listen to me. The bet was to go out and have a good time. No woman was picked; no plot was hatched. The President would never do that to you. I asked you because I wanted to. I made love to you because I want you."

CJ was quiet for a moment. She backed up again, hitting her desk. Steadying herself, CJ took a deep breath.

"Maybe we need to forget about this Leo. I already told the press that it was nothing."

"Yeah. That might work, except it was something. At least for me."

"It was one night Leo." CJ whispered.

"One night can change your life...can change the world."

CJ smirked, sitting at her desk. She crossed her leg and gave him a stony look. It did not stop her heart from thumping too fast and the butterflies in her stomach.

"I am going to forget it happened, OK." She said. "Now, please leave, because I have a lot of work to do."

"I am really sorry about this CJ."

She dismissed his apology with a wave of her hand as Leo walked out of her office. CJ took a deep breath, focusing on the work in front of her. He was back in five minutes. Closing the door, Leo stood her up, and kissed her mouth.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked. CJ held her hands against his chest.

Leo was afraid she would slap him again.

"I felt it, you felt it, and we shouldn’t fight it."

"Let me go you bastard."

She struggled a bit; he was strong and as much as it pissed her off it turned her on.

"I made a mistake CJ...how could I tell you about a bet?"

"You hurt me Leo."

"I never intended to. I certainly did not want to embarrass you in front of the boys. The President and I had a nice talk about it."

"So what?"

"I like you. I like your laugh, and your silliness, and the way you look in, and out, of a tank top. This is me, not a bet."

Leo smiled as she kissed him.

"You are a good kisser, you are fabulous in bed, and you are a motherfucker."

"But you want me too." He whispered in her ear. "Have breakfast with me in my suite tomorrow morning?" he asked.

"What time?" CJ asked.

"As soon as we wake up." Leo replied.

She pulled away from him and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You are too sure of yourself. Why?"

"Because I know how you really feel, and you know it was a silly mistake. And I know you want me too."

CJ kissed him again and told him to get out. Leo walked to the door.

"CJ?"

"I’ll come to your suite later. And slap you around a little bit." she said.

"I’m looking forward to it." Leo replied.

***


End file.
